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In common terms the subject of load balancing refers to distributing incoming HTTP requests across independent web servers in a server cluster, to avoid overloading any one server. Because load balancing distributes the requests based on the actual load at each server, it is excellent for ensuring availability of high traffic websites and applications and defending against denial of service attacks.

Load balancing has become a necessity as applications become more complex, user demand grows and traffic volume increases. Load balancers allow organisations to build flexible networks that can meet new challenges without compromising security, service or performance.

Load Balancing Algorithms

There is a variety of load balancing methods, which use different algorithms best suited for a particular situation.

  • Least Connection Method — directs traffic to the server with the fewest active connections. Most useful when there are a large number of persistent connections in the traffic unevenly distributed between the servers.
  • Least Response Time Method — directs traffic to the server with the fewest active connections and the lowest average response time.
  • Round Robin Method — rotates servers by directing traffic to the first available server and then moves that server to the bottom of the queue. Most useful when servers are of equal specification and there are not many persistent connections.
  • IP Hash — the IP address of the client determines which server receives the request.

Please contact Digital Pacific to discuss your load balancing requirements and let us put together a solution for you.

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